Bajak Chili Sauce (Sambal Bajak)

8 red chilies seeded and sliced
1 tsp dried shrimp paste (terasi) toasted
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
3 garlic cloves peeled and sliced
6 shallots peeled and sliced
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp chopped palm sugar
2 tbl oil
2 salam leaves
2 lemongrass stalks bruised
1/2 inch galangal (laos) peeled and sliced
4 tbl tamarind juice

Grind with a mortar and pestle or blend the first 7 ingredients very finely.

Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the ground ingredients along with salam leaves, lemongrass and galangal. Stir it frequently until the mixture changes color and becomes very fragrant.

Pour the tamarind juice and let it simmer for about a minute and then leave to cool.
Remove salam leaves, lemongrass and galangal before serving.

Keeps up to 1 week or longer if refrigerated.

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Besengek Chicken (Ayam Besengek)

1 whole chicken
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp vegetables oil or margarine
2 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 red chilies, crushed
1 tsp ground coriander
pinch of ground cumin
1 tsp ground laos
2 candlenuts, grated
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
2 tbsp coconut, desiccated or freshly grated
2 cup coconut milk from 1 coconut
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tamarind juice

Cut chicken into serving portions. Wash thoroughly. Rub thoroughly with salt and fry in oil until light golden brown.

Add onion and garlic to chicken and fry until onion turns medium brown. Add chili, coriander, cumin and laos and fry again for about 1 minute. Add candlenuts to mixture and stir well. Add shrimp paste and grated coconut. Fry an additional minute.

Then add coconut milk and brown sugar. Simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes. Finally add in tamarind juice. Serve.

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Fried Silver Pomfret with Tomato and Lime Sweet Sauce (Ikan Bawal Saus Asam Manis)

500 grams Silver Pomfret
5 shallots, sliced finely
1 tomato, quartered
2 red chilies, sliced thinly diagonally
5 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup water
2 cups cooking oil (for deep-frying fish and 1/4 cup cooking oil for soy sauce base)

Heat cooking oil in a wok or deep fry pan till slightly smokey over high heat. Fry pomfret for 10 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and set aside

Heat the rest of the cooking oil in the same wok over medium heat for a minute. Add shallot, tomato and chili. Quickly stir for 30 seconds. Add soy sauce, sugar, lime juice and water, keep on stirring. Simmer and cover for 3 minutes.

Return fish to the soy based sauce. Mix well till fish covered evenly with sauce. Cook for another minute.

Remove from heat and serve with steamed rice.

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Stir-fried Beansprouts (Tumis Toge)

300 grams (5 cups) beansprouts
3 red chilies, seeded and cut diagonally
3 stalks spring onion, cut 2 cm lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil

Heat cooking oil in a wok over high heat for a minute.

Toss in chilies and spring onions. Cook for 30 seconds.

Add beansprouts and season with salt. Cook for another minute.

Remove from heat and serve warm.

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Stir-fry Anchovies with Chili (Sambal Goreng Teri)

1-1/2 cups (100 grams) dried anchovies
1 (75 grams) small tomato, quartered
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon palm sugar
1/4 cup cooking oil (for deep-frying anchovies and 2 tablespoons for stir-frying spice paste)

Spice paste

5 (25 grams) shallots
1/8 cup (10 grams) red/green chilies, seeded
1 garlic clove
3 kaffir lime leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat 1/4 cup cooking oil in a wok, deep-fry anchovies till brown and crunchy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and drain on paper towel.

Grind shallots, chilies, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and salt to coarse paste, in a spice grinder or mortal and pestle.

Stir-fry paste and tomato in oil till fragrant, for two minutes. Add water and sugar.

Add anchovies, cook for another minute. Remove from heat.

Serve with steamed rice.

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Fried Fish in Chili Sauce (Sambal Goreng Ikan)

6 (650 gr) fresh round scad (or any seawater fish)
10 (50 gr) shallots
4 cloves (10 gr) garlic
80 gr red chili, sliced thinly & diagonally
30 gr red chili, for paste
0.5' fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon shaved palm sugar block (or brown sugar)
1 (130 gr) whole tomato, quartered
1 tablespoon dark sweet soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 cups cooking oil for deep frying fish
3 tablespoons extra cooking oil for stir-frying chili paste
1/3 cup water

Wash fish, remove the innards and pat completely dry

Heat cooking oil in wok over high heat. Deep fry fish for 3 – 5 minutes. If the fish are dried properly, the cooking time is considerably reduced. When the skin turned dry and crisp, remove and set aside

Combine chili, garlic, shallots and ginger in a mortar or bowl of spice grinder. Grind for 5 seconds if using electric grinder till reaches coarse paste.

Heat extra cooking oil over high heat. Stir fry the paste and stinky beans for 3 minutes. Add salt, sliced chili, water, tomatoes, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well.

Toss in the fish. Cook for another 3 minutes.

Serve warm with rice.

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Black Pomfret stuff with Lemongrass spice (Ikan Bawal Goreng Bumbu Serai)

370 grams black pomfret, washed, pat dried and innards removed
2 cups cooking oil, for deep frying

Spice stuffing

25 grams red chilies
6 (25 grams) shallots
2 (10 grams) garlic cloves
3 whole candlenut, toasted
1 centimeter fresh turmeric root
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemongrass
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Grind all spices ingredient in a food processor or pound in a mortal and pestle

Make a deep cut on the top side of the fish. Insert the stuffing as much as you can

Deep fry the fish in hot oil for 10 minutes each side, till both sides are cooked.

Serve with steamed rice.

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Stir Fry Papaya Buds (Tumis Bunga Pepaya)

500 gr papaya flower buds
20 gr (3 cm) galangal
5 gr (5 cm) fresh ginger
50 gr green chili
50 gr red chili
5 salam leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/4 cup water

Wash and pick flowers into bite sizes. Blanch with boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside

In a food processor, add galangal, ginger, green and red chili, and hit pulse for 2 – 3 minutes until everything is mixed well and turned into grainy paste

Heat cooking oil in a wok / pan. Stir fry paste and salam leaves for 1 minute over high heat. Add water

Toss in blanched papaya flowers. Stir fry quickly for three minutes

Add sugar and salt. Cook for another minute

Remove salam leaves and serve warm

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Manadonese Style Sweet And Spicy Sauce Fried Fish (Ikan Goreng Rica-Rica)

3 mackerel (or any fish you like)
2 tomatoes
6 tbsp oil
1 tsp palmsugar (gula jawa)
2 tbsp rice vinager
3 salam leaves
2 jeruk purut / kaffir lime leaves
1/2 tsp salt

Seasoning:

4 cm jahe (ginger)
3 shallots
3 cm laos (galangal)
3 cloves garlic
red lomboks (large chilies)

Pound or grind the ingredients for the seasoning into a paste.

Cut the tomatoes in thin slices.

Heat in a wok the oil and fry the fish brown and done.

Put the fish on a plate.

Add the bumbu (seasoning) and fry it for 3 minutes.

Then add the salam, the jeruk purut, the tomatoes, the palmsugar, the salt and the rice vinager and let it simmer slowly for 5 minutes.

Pour the sauce over the fish and serve.

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Mixed Spicy Chicken (Ayam Bumbu Rujak)

3½ lb. young chicken, cut into frying pieces
¼ cup sliced shallots
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tsp. crushed dried red hot chili
5 candlenut, crushed
1/8 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 cups coconut milk
1 Tbs. Vegetable oil
1 thick slice ginger
1 stalk lemon grass

Blend the shallots, garlic, chili, candlenut, salt and sugar with ¼ cup of the coconut milk into a paste.

Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the paste for a minute or two until you can smell the aroma.

Place the chicken, ginger and lemon grass into the wok and stir fry for five minutes or more over medium heat. Then add the rest of the coconut milk, and let it cook for forty five minutes, stir the chicken frequently.

It is ready to be served if the sauce is somewhat thickened and the chicken should be tender.

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